-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Manager Ozzie Guillen was back in the dugout Tuesday night after serving a five-game suspension imposed by the Miami Marlins for his comments praising former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and angering the city 's sizable Cuban-American population .

`` It 's been a tough couple of days , you know what I mean ? '' Guillen , in his first season as Marlins manager , told reporters before a game against the Chicago Cubs .

`` I feel proud of the players and the coaching staff because they play well -- we wish they 'd won a couple more games , but they ... went after their job very good , the way I thought they were gon na go about their business , and there 's no one more excited than me to be back with them . ''

In an interview with Time magazine earlier this month , Guillen said , `` I love Fidel Castro , '' adding , `` You know why ? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years , but that -LRB- expletive -RRB- is still there . ''

After those comments , demonstrators rallied outside the Marlins ' new $ 634 million stadium to denounce Guillen . The stadium is in the Little Havana section of the city , home to many who fled Cuba after Castro 's 1959 communist revolution .

Guillen incurs wrath of Cuban-Americans

Guillen apologized during a news conference April 10 -- first speaking in Spanish -- saying that he had `` betrayed a Latin community '' and that he was speaking ask for forgiveness with my heart in my hand . ''

Guillen 's remarks came as his Marlins , who had often suffered from weak attendance despite winning two World Series , were seeking to burnish their brand . The club had moved into a new park in the heart of the city , changed its name -LRB- formerly the Florida Marlins -RRB- , redesigned its uniforms and invested in some key offseason acquisitions . Among those moves was the hiring of Guillen , who in his previous managerial position with the Chicago White Sox had developed a reputation for building winning teams and , from time to time , making headlines with blunt remarks .

In 2006 , he apologized for making an anti-gay slur against a Chicago newspaper columnist , and in 2010 he said it was unfair that Japanese ballplayers got translators when Spanish-speaking players did n't .

The Castro comment controversy appeared to have settled down Tuesday night as Guillen took his spot in the dugout for the game with the Cubs .

If anyone was protesting in Marlins Park , it was not discernible over the gametime buzz of a pitching duel between Marlins ace Josh Johnson and the Cubs ' Ryan Dempster .

CNN 's Mariano Castillo contributed to this report .

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`` It 's been a tough couple of days , '' Miami manager Ozzie Guillen tells reporters

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Guillen had been suspended by the Marlins for comments he made praising Fidel Castro

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Anti-Castro sentiment is strong in Miami 's Cuban-American population

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At gametime , fans seem more focused on baseball , not controversy